Last season, a void was created in the St. Louis Blues' leadership group when the team traded captain Ryan O'Reilly to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the deadline. The Blues played the rest of the 2022-23 season without a player wearing the "C" on his chest, but veteran forward Brayden Schenn clearly took a step forward as a leader.

The Blues made things official on Tuesday, naming Schenn the 24th captain in franchise history. The 32-year-old forward is entering his seventh season in St. Louis, and he has a chance to remain in the primary leadership role for a long while — he's signed through the end of the 2027-28 season and has a partial no-trade clause.

Schenn, a key member of the Blues' 2018-19 Stanley Cup championship team, has 131 goals and 210 assists in 425 games as a Blue. He had 21 goals and 44 assists while playing in all 82 games last season.

GM Doug Armstrong announced at Tuesday's press conference that forward Robert Thomas and defensemen Justin Faulk and Colton Parayko will serve as assistant captains this season. All three players have previously worn the "A" on a rotating basis and did so more frequently after the Blues traded O'Reilly and former assistant captain Vladimir Tarasenko last February.